Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-10-27
MINING EXCITEMENT.
fhrss Months among the Hills or Crawford, Rich
land aud Vernon Counties.


July to make report to some of my
mining friends here in old Grant, OF
the prospects for copper, iron, lead,
zinc, gold. silver or whatever l Nigh,
find, and if the gentlemanly editor will
bear the infliction | will make a short
report through the HERALD.
/ first went to Richland county where
thirty years age found what | sup.
posed to be big prospect for copper.
l found the place all right, but the
owner of the land had taken out ton
and half of very fine copper ore in a
space of ground six feet wide, eight
feet long and three feet deep aud was
SO elated over his prospect that could
not lease ON terms that would Justify
trying to develope mine. That pros
pect is in the northwest corner of Rich
land county, town IL, section 4. range
2 west. Invent from there to Vernon
county where l had accidentally found
copper in 1859, a chunk that would
weigh so lbs. / found the place very
easily, and also found some very fine
specimens on searching around in that
vicinity. So much for the first day.
Next morning got Mr.. William Clancy
one of the first settlers. to show me
around for the next two weeks. | think
we searched every hill, traversed every
rayine, drank out of every spring for
miles around my first prospect. The
thermometer about that time was 104
in the shade We found in our two
weeks search ten or twelve very fine
prospects. We selected place to
mine where we picked up some or
hundred pounds of copper ore. By
sinking few prospect holes we struck
a crevice, and copper at about ten feet
deep. Our copper in the crevice was
in size from one OF. to ten or twelve
fbs. weight. The rock was very hard
after getting down fourteen or fifteen
feet. We blasted the shaft down so
feet deep. Seeing that it was going to
be too much for us. some of the leading
men of Crawford and Vernon counties
proposed to organize d mining com
pany with headquarters at Soldiers
Grove. Crawford Co, Wis. Mr. G. A.
Smith is president, Mr.. Thos. Ward
secretary, and attorney Mr.. james
Davis. treasurer. with seven directors
and one superintendent. The company
had. on the eighth of October about a
thousand acres of land leased. They
have had five or six men prospecting
for copper in vernon county since the
23rd of September, and started few
prospoctors the 10th Of October on some
very favorable iron prospects. The
woods are full of Mineral hunters.
Viroqua has mining boom and 8
stock company with q capital of one
million eight hundred and sevcnty-fivc
thousand dollars. Specimens of min
erals are brought in every day
from all parts OF the country.
Some are very fine specimens of copper
ore. Pure or native copper is found In
many places in Crawford and Vernon
counties. Soft iron ore, said by experts
to be the very best quality of iron is
found in both counties. The biggest
find of copper ore, so far. was found
by Mr.. Mumford and two other gentle
men. They mined nearly car load
and shipped it to Baltimore Maryland.
Their ore assayed 461 per cent. Fna
copper ore 10 Richland Co assays A.
per cent copper, and p per cent gold.
and is very rich in silver The Mum
ford prospect is three and onehalf miles
North of Wauzeka, Crawford Co. The
next best copper ore prospect is near
Mt. Sterling, Crawford Co. thirteen
tons, am told, has beon taken from
that mite. Some mining has been
done on the Rountree, Cole and Lewis
land. and several tons Of copper found.
They have 1909 acres lying 10 Vernon
Co in towns eleven, twelve aud thir-
teen, ranges and west. l have. in
the last three months, searched the
hills and hollows very carefully from
Wauzeka, on the Wisconsin River, to
the Northern part of Richland Co. and
from Ferryville on The Mississippi River,
til Viola on the Kickapoo, and have
found both native copper and
copper ore, with fue pros
poets of iron, over that whole area
of country. This letter is likely to take
up too much space 80 | will close but if
the editoris willing to be imposed on the
second time. will try and give some
idea of the geological formation of
that country with my reasons for be-
lieving it agood mining country.